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TBTP: Alienation
This story is the first chapter of a '''Turn Back the Pendulum arc' consisting of the author's characters. Respect for the article is expected, but opinions of all spectrum are welcome and encouraged on this article's talk page. Thanks! --- Ten Tailed Fox 03:42, July 1, 2011 (UTC)'' ---- Turn Back the Pendulum A pendulum is ticking, swaying back and forth in the blackness of space-time. In the present, the man named Raian Getsueikirite knows the moment has arrived. The evil man from the past is about to set his devilish plans into motion. As he looks over his home in the Human World, he begins to ponder the events of the past. Back in space-time, the pendulum is now swinging in reverse, bringing us back in time many years to exactly one year after Akujin rampaged in Soul Society. At this point, Raian was living a not-so-peaceful existence in the human nation of America; far from the city of Karakura, which resided in Japan. He stepped out of a grocery store, shutting the glass door behind him, and slinging the plastic bag containing his purchases in in over his shoulder. "Can't believe it has already been a year." he thought to himself as he walked slowly down the street. After Akujin had been stopped in Soul Society, Raian was tried by the Central 46 for use of Hollow powers and conspiring with a fugitive from justice. However, his part in saving Soul Society from Akujin had spared him a death sentence, instead causing the 46 to exile him to the Human World indefinitely, and ban him from the Gotei 13 forever. Needless to say, he wasn't coping well with this. Raian arrived at his apartment fifteen minutes later, through the bag of food on the counter in his kitchenette, and plopped down on his couch to contemplate his situation for what must have been the billionth time that year. Due to his exile, a seal had been placed on his body that completely sealed his Shinigami powers until he was permitted to enter Soul Society once more. He could still feel reiatsu, however, and that allowed him to avoid Hollows on his routine midnight strolls through the local city park. Raian lazily reached for the television remote with one hand and flipped on his TV. He grumbled as he flipped through the channels. Humans had no taste in entertainment in his opinion. His thoughts were distracted from the television by his current predicament once again, though. Even though he was hundreds of years old in terms of Shinigami lifespan, he appeared to be no more than seventeen years old in human society, and so he was forced to enroll in a local high school. Something he was not at all pleased with. Tomorrow was to be his first day in said school. "Great..." he thought to himself. "How am I suppose to survive in a school full of stuck up brats...?" Sighing, he flipped off the television and sprawled out on his sofa, falling into a restless sleep minutes later. His dreams were filled with visions of his final battle with Akujin and of his unlikely ally, Seireitou. He attempted, fruitlessly, to find solace by seeking out his Zanpakutō spirit, but with his powers sealed, it just wouldn't happen. The Kid With All the Answers Morning came all too quickly for Raian. 6:00 AM was far too early for a guy like him to get up, but he had to regardless. He packed his backpack, through it over his shoulder, drank a small glass of milk, and struck off for school. Though the city he lived in was massive, he lived only two blocks from his school, so the walk went quickly and before long, he was in the building. The noise of the building alone was enough to make Raian want to scream. Children annoyed Raian, oh so much. Teenagers were worse, in his opinion, though. He grumbled the entire distance from the entrance to his locker on the second floor, but was interrupted only feet from the locker by three thugs attempting to make a name for themselves on the first day. "You don't look to happy to be here, kid." taunted the first one, and by far the largest. Apparently, he was a senior. "And yet, here you are to make my morning worst." Raian spat, not in the mood for idle chat. "Aw, a smart one too, Danny." one of the smaller boys said to the senior. "I'll cut him some slack." Danny said. "After all, he is new here. He doesn't know me or my reputation." Raian was clearly growing annoyed, but was in no way threatened. Hundreds of years of daily training as a Shinigami made him more than capable enough to deal with this thug, even without his powers. "Look, as much as I would like to be a goody-two-shoes and tell you 'I don't want any trouble', if you don't get out of my way, I may have to enlighten you as to what I do to those who make my day shittier than they already are." Raian said, glaring at Danny. This time, it was the third boy to chime in first. "Sounds like a threat to me, Dan." he sneered. "So it did." Danny replied, stroking his cheek. "You've got guts kid, but as you'll learn, I don't care much for kids with guts." Danny didn't wait for a reply. He charged, aiming to take Raian in a headlock. Before Raian could release any of his held back frustration with the thug, however, a kid dressed in a long trench coat and sporting a mop of blondish-brown hair stepped in the way, catching the larger thug's attack almost effortlessly; holding him back. Danny's other two thugs had apparently attempted to save him, but another individual of similar appearance had stepped in to block their attempts in a similar manner to the first. Raian narrowed his eyes. The two newcomers exerted a familiar force; reiatsu. What caught it as odd to Raian, though, was that both reiatsu signals were identical. "Reiatsu...clones..?" Raian pondered, watching the confrontation with renewed interest. "You two?!" Danny barked in the meantime. "You two know what I can do! Do I need to thrash you to remind you or something?!" "Just leave." the first kid replied, "It'll save us all some embarrassment." "You think I-" the thug began to reply, but was cut cold by the the other newcomer's voice. "Besides, class is about to start. You've already been held back twice, Big Dan. Keep missing classes to pick a fight and you'll be here 'til you're forty." he shot. Danny growled and barked to his thugs to come to him, "We'll finish this at lunch." he threatened and stormed off, thugs in hot pursuit. It was safe to say that Raian was beyond annoyed at this point, but he shrugged it off for the sake of appearing to be at least somewhat optimistic and returned to attempting to get to his locker. In his frustration, his reiatsu surged momentarily, causing him to rip the locker door off its hinges. He dropped the door in shock and looked at his hand for an explanation. He had used reiatsu even though he wasn't suppose to be able to, due to his seal. "That couldn't be-" he started to whisper to himself. "Reiatsu?" the first newcomer chimed in, causing Raian to freeze and get a chill down his spine. "Yeah, we know all about reiatsu." the second one said, "Just like we know all about you, Getsueikirite Raian...!" Raian's chill turned into a full body sensation. How did they know his name?! He hadn't even introduced himself to anyone yet. "How do you know me...?" Raian snarled, immediately on the defense. The first newcomer simply walked over, picking up Raian's cellphone, which was sitting in an outside pocket on the strap of his backpack, punched in a few buttons and then placed it back. "When you want to know - really want to know - then give us a call." the newcomer replied, and then he, and his comrade left Raian alone in the halls to contemplate his new situation. When Raian finally unfroze himself from fear and uncertainty, he pulled out the phone and went to his contacts. A new numbers was there... under the title Yūga.... Yūga & Yūbi Raian avoided calling the number. In fact, he ignored his phone altogether of the course of the next couple of days. To his annoyance, he found out that he shared every class with at least one of the newcomers. Though he did his best to avoid them, the three always managed to bump in to one another at least twice a day. On one occasion, it happened outside of the school several blocks away at the city park. Raian had become more than unnerved with the situation. Still, there was one thing he was still confused over; the fact that he had used reiatsu at school that day. Not just that day either, but everyday since. He was finding it hard to control the output, perhaps due to the seal, and therefore he found himself leaving a wake of destruction behind him at school. Other students were starting to regard him as a freak, alien, or some other term that further alienated him from his would-be "peers". In fact, the only ones who seemed to care anything about him in a positive light was his mysterious trailers, who never failed to give him the creeps whenever they could. Raian sighed. He was on his way home from school on Friday. He'd stayed late to help clean up another mess he'd left due to his reiatsu fluctuations, and so it was already dark when he ventured out to go home. A city the size of the one he currently dwelt in was always active, but for some reason, there weren't a lot of people out and about when he reached his street. The first sign of danger was the fluctuation of reiatsu behind him. Whirling around to face the assailant, Raian noticed a man in his early thirties charging him with a knife. The man's reiatsu was huge, larger than any he'd felt since his battle with Akujin, but it was his eyes that truly drew Raian's attention. They weren't human. The right eye had a black sclera, while the other was completely white. Using his enhanced reflexes, Raian ducked to the right, but the man seemed to have better reflexes; spinning around and slashing him across the shoulder with the weapon. Warm blood flowed freely from the fresh wound, and Raian cried out in pain. "Damn...it's just not the same as having my powers.." he cursed to himself. The man charged again, this time angling his blade for the kill. On instinct, Raian activated his reiatsu and threw his arms out in front of him to block. To his great surprise, the knife was stopped cold, but oddly enough, he didn't feel the blade puncture him. Looking up, he was further shocked to see black armor covering his arms and both were bathed in reiatsu. Before his assailant could react, Raian aimed a punch at the man's gut. The punch's raw speed and power alarmed Raian, as his assailant's torso exploded in a bloody mess when his armored-fists came into contact with his body. Without attempting to flee, Raian examined his armored arms with awe. Just then, he sensed two more reiatsus, but this time, they took more familiar forms. "You two again, eh?" he said as the mysterious newcomers revealed themselves from the nearby trees. "You haven't called us." the first said. "And I don't intend to. Look, whatever you're up to, I want no part in it." Raian replied. "You need us." the second, slightly chubbier one, replied. "And why's that?" Raian sneered. "Because your Fragment powers are awakening...!" the first chimed in. Raian again got a huge chill up his spine, "Fragment...powers?!" he gasped. "What do you mean?" The two strangers remained silent. "Answer me!!!" Raian roared. The first stranger looked up, a very serious look on his face, "The name's Yūga, and that's my bro Yūbi. Come with us and I'll explain everything..." The Jinki Fragments It took the group five or six minutes to reach the apartment complex that Yūga and Yūbi lived in. Once inside the room, Raian took a seat on the sofa, while the two brothers sat in nearby chairs, facing Raian. After a brief moment of silence, Yūga spoke. "You must have a lot of questions." he said, trying to provoke a response from Raian. "Yeah, let's start with this. Why do the two of you have identical reiatsu signals. Even for being brothers, twins from the looks of it, it is impossible to have identical signals." Raian said rather quickly. Yūga chuckled, "It's a long story, but if it will put your mind at ease, I'll tell you. Yūbi and I aren't brothers, or twins for that matter; at least not in the normal sense. We're what you call "soul twins". It occurs so rarely that only three cases have been documented in Soul Society's history." he began. "You know of Soul Society?" Raian asked, suddenly completely serious. "Let me finish." Yūga replied, dodging the question. "We were born on the same day seventeen years ago. He was born in Soul Society, and I was born here in the Human World. Our reiatsu are the same because we technically have the exact same soul. In the process of reincarnation, on very rare occasions, a soul will get split in two and one half will return to Soul Society, while the other goes where it was intended; the Human World. Since both halves were intended to be a single person, they both take on the appearance of that person. Even so, both halves can develop different personalities and so aren't totally identical." It took a moment for Raian to process that information, but then he continued, "And...how did you two meet?" Yūga laughed again, and waved the question off, "That is another story for another day. Right now we're here to talk about you and your, uh, condition..." he explained. Raian glanced down at his arm. The reiatsu armor had dissipated, but he could still feel its power tingling beneath his skin. "What was that power you spoke of?" he finally asked. "The power of a Jinki Fragment." Yūbi chimed in. "We're not exactly sure of the power's origin, but for several centuries, Soul Society has acknowledge the existence of nine powerful beings, known as Jinki Fragments. We believe you're one of them and...-" "-and we believe that's why you were attacked tonight." Yūga finished, cutting his brother off. "What's so important about these Jinki Fragments?" Raian asked. "There's a, uh, guy out there who wants them. All nine of them. For what reason, though, we don't know." Yūga replied. "And where do you two fit into all of this?" Raian asked, trying to absorb the continued flow of information. "We're here to teach you to use your Fragment. Then you could help us defeat this guy." Yūbi blurted out. "Why do you want him defeated?" Raian asked, now looking directly at Yūbi. "Because..-" Yūbi began, but was cut off yet again. "-because he killed my parents." Yūga replied angrily. "They were his two first victims. He was testing something...a device. A device that could kill a Fragment." "And why would he want to kill a Fragment when he needs them?" Raian shot, skeptical. "Because when a Jinki Fragment is killed, their killer inherits their power." Yūbi chimed in. "That's why you need us." Raian snorted a laugh. He didn't like the idea of learning from two kids that were centuries younger than him, but if it would help him regain some of his sealed spiritual powers, he was up for it. "I'm in." he announced. Training Begins Yūga nodded, "Excellent." He then turned to Yūbi, "You're up." Yūbi snapped his fingers and instantly the room was engulfed in a black substance similar to the Dangai. Raian noticed he couldn't feel any reiatsu from the outside world; just the twins and himself. "What...is this?" he asked them. "This is a Fullbring. It's my brother's abiltiy." Yūga explained. "This one is called, 'Pocket in the World'." "He creates his own pocket dimensions?" Raian asked. "Not quite. He makes use of pre-existing space time and simply transfers us into the dimension, while closing it off from the larger dimension with several barriers. Its actually quite complex." Yūga explained. "Interesting." Raian remarked. "Anyways, that's not what we're here to do. Let's start on your training." Yūga continued. "To awaken a Fragment, you have to be near death, such as you were tonight. That armor-like reiatsu that covered your arms, that was part of your Fragment's power. I've seen other Jinki Fragments, and they all follow a certain theme, called a Desire. Each desire is different according to the Fragment's user. By the feel of that reiatsu that was on your arms, I would say yours is 'Companionship'." Raian looked at his hands again. He could still feel the power from earlier pulsating beneath his skin. "Now that it has been awakened, you just have to learn how to control it, something that won't be easy." Yūbi chimed in. "Go to your Inner World. The answers can be found there." "But I can't go to my inner world, because..." Raian stopped himself. They knew he had powers, but the twins probably didn't know about his life in Soul Society. Or, at least, that is what he thought. "Because your powers are sealed?" Yūga replied, stunning Raian. "A foolish reason. Now that you have reiatsu again, it should be easy. Go there now." The Inner World Darkness consumed Raian as he entered his sub-conscious. Within moments, water engulfed him and he realized he was in his inner world. His inner world took the form of the bottom of the ocean since he found water peaceful. Across from him stood a being clad in a full body version of the armor that had covered his arm earlier that night. "Inyō?" Raian asked. "Inyō?" the being responded. "Wrong. I am not the spirit of your sword, Raian-san. I am a mirror of you. A perfect copy, clad in your Fragment. My purpose? Simple; get you to understand yourself, your true power. You're stronger than you think." Raian looked at the spirit quizzically, "Not with my powers sealed I'm not." he shot back. The spirit image of Raian chuckled, "Do you really think power is derived from the amount of strength you have? Were you not listening to Yūga a little while ago? Your desire is companionship. You seek and form bonds with others with great ease. Even those two, whom you've only just met...you already consider them comrades, don't you?" Rain narrowed his eyes, acknowledging the feeling the spirit mentioned, "What of it?" "Jinki Fragments gain power from their user's particular desire. Yours is companionship, meaning you grow stronger by drawing on your friendships with others. Your fragment will increase massively in power if you draw on these things when you use it." the spirit explained. Raian closed his eyes. He thought of Seireitou and the brutal training he had endured under him, yet the bond the two had developed as they fought alongside one another in Soul Society. He thought of his division members back in the Gotei 13, and of the two newcomers who had only just befriended him. "Ah, you feel it." the spirit continued. "They comfort you. Strengthen you. Use that. Tug on it." Raian did as instructed, causing reiatsu that had been sealed for over a year to come flooding to the surface, engulfing him in black energy that enveloped his body. His body was now covered in black and dark blue armor, with a small portion of it covering his nasal area. "This is your Jinki Fragment, Book of the Moon." the spirit explained. "My job is over for now. Your new friends will train you from here on out. Good luck, Raian-san..." Jinki Fragment Mode "That's quite the jumpsuit you've got on there." said a grinning Yūga as Raian awakened in the real world. "You've been out for awhile." Raian rubbed his eyes and groaned with weariness, "How long was I in there?" he asked. "In your Inner World? About two hours. Asleep? About a day and a half. Using that power takes a lot out of you at first." Yūga replied. "But, while you were napping," Yūbi continued comically, "We managed to do some research on that form you took upon activating your Fragment and we have some intel for you." "I'm listening." Raian commented as he continued to wake himself from his sleep. "Well, we can't tell you your abilities. That's for you to discover, but from the look of the reiatsu coming off of you in your Fragment Mode, that armor is made of a very dense reiatsu that makes it nigh impregnable. Aside from that, the form seems to increase your strength and speed dramatically. You're going to need to get use to these." Yūbi explained. With a snap of his fingers, Yūbi brought a large semi-truck into the pocket dimension. "Impressive." Raian remarked, standing up. "Unlike you guys, I can sense the area outside my Fullbring and bring objects within my 'reach' into it." Yūbi remarked. "Practice controlling your strength with this." Raian nodded, closed his eyes, and became enveloped in dark energy that quickly reformed into the armor of his Jinki Fragment. He slowly approached the large vehicle and reached under it, placing the palm of his right hand on it's underside. He then attempted to lift it, but, not use to his new strength, he accidentally flung the vehicle in the air, drawing comical expressions from all three gathered. "Its gonna crash..." Yūga noted, still staring comically at the truck as it continued it's ascent. "You should, uh....go get it." Yūbi sneered comically. Raian grumbled, "Fine, make me do all the work." he snapped. With a push from his legs, Raian became airborne. His speed was so astounding, he closed the distance between himself and the still flying semi-truck before either twin could blink their eyes. "Wha...That was faster than a Flash Step.." Yūga thought with wide eyes. Yūbi looked almost disturbed at the spectacle, "Impossible. There was just a flash of black energy and then he was there. Did he teleport or is he just that fast?!" Raian soared above the airborne vehicle and kicked down on it, sending it flying at renewed speeds towards the ground. He then flashed away, landing on the ground long before the truck did, and sticking his hands high in the air. The truck collided with Raian's hands with no visible sign of strain to him, however, the vehicle itself nearly fell apart, with parts of the frame tearing away from the impact. Yūga signed, "Yep...gonna have to work on that..." Improving a power...and a friendship One week later... "Move it a little to the right!" Yūbi shouted, as he relaxed outside his apartment in sunglasses, shorts, and a pair of flip flops. "What do I look like, your male maid?!" Raian shouted from above. "Eh, you need the practice." Yūbi scoffed comically. Raian was in Jinki Fragment Mode, floating over the twins' apartment with a large satellite-looking dish, meant to provide shade from the sun for those underneath it. Yūga came out of the apartment with a tray of drinks and nearly dropped them at the sight of what was unfolding in the backyard. "Yūbi, you can't use Raian as your shade provider!" he shouted, scolding his twin. "Aw, calm down would you? He could use a little sun, not to mention practice with his powers." Yūbi replied, waving his brother off. "That's not the point! What if the other humans saw?!" Yūga shot back. "You know full well they can't see what goes on in or around our place because of that Kidō you placed over it." Yūbi said, apparently winning the argument. Suddenly, the dish came crashing down right behind Yūbi, causing him to jump in surprise. "What do you mean I need a little sun?!" Raian roared, being the culprit behind the attack. "What are you tryin' to do, kill me?!" Yūbi shouted back, comically. "You two cut it out!" Yūga snapped. "Raian, you need to get back to training those moves you've learned. Forget my brother for now." "Fine with me." Raian sneered, sticking his tongue out at Yūbi. Raian's arms, already in Fragment Mode, became enveloped in a transparent black reiatsu. The reiatsu then leaped off his arms, which were still at his side, and formed into hand-like appendages themselves. With his will alone, Raian directed the reiatsu hands over to the large dish and lifted it, throwing it high into the sky. Using his form's tremendous speed, he shot into the air, just behind the disk. "Tsukikamikaze!" he declared, spinning his body at a massive rate of speed, making himself look like a tornado of black reiatsu which then shred the metal disk into dust. Yūga and Yūbi watched on from the ground below. "Not bad..." Yūga noted. "That technique takes advantage of his speed and the density of his reiatsu. The sheer levels of both those traits in that Mode make him incredibly dangerous. In one week he's overshadowed his Shinigami powers in terms of raw ability." Yūbi explained. "It's still incomplete though..." "Interesting. And those reiatsu arms he used earlier, they're like extensions of his Fragment armor; retaining its strength." Yūga also noted. "He'll be ready to fight in no time." "Should we explain things to him more in depth, then?" Yūbi asked. "Not yet. He still has one obstacle in his path; Seireitou Kawahiru." Yūga replied. "So, Karakura Town then?" Yūbi asked. "Yep, first thing tomorrow. We'll explain it to him tonight." Yūga replied. For a few more minutes, both were silent as Raian continued training far above them, then Yūga broke the silence again. "Its funny, though. When we decided to approach him, we just needed someone strong as an ally. In the course of a week, I think I've grown to call him a friend." he said. Yūbi chuckled, "Well, companionship is his forte. But yeah...I get what you're saying." Both looked up at their new friend as he wrapped up his training, and all three went back within the contours of the apartment to discuss their next move. To Karakura Town! Meanwhile, in the shadows of the Human World...deep in woods... "Seems things are finally getting interesting." a figure said to himself, standing on the branch of an extremely tall tree. "Its time to make my move. I've gotta beat Mūkade to the punch. Prepare yourself Mūkade, Setsuna Kōmei is now on the hunt..." Back in America... "So, we're heading out to Karakura Town?" Raian asked as he slipped on the finishing touches to his new outfit. He now wore a full-length dark trousers, with a pair of laces on each leg, respectively a few inches below the waist and the knees, a long-sleeved crimson coat with flaring hemlines on the front and the back, a grey holster vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder and by two buckled belts. "Yeah...we need to find Seireitou." Yūga replied as he finished his own outfit. Raian smiled at the thought of getting to see his old friend again, "If anyone can find him, it'll be me." he replied. "Don't get cocky." Yūbi snapped comically, "Now let's get going." With that, he snapped his fingers, bringing them out of his pocket dimension and back out into the real world, on the porch of the apartment. "Heh, alright, let's go." Raian said, and the group began to set off. The End...